If you spend enough time in a particular career, you know enough to share knowledge with companies and get paid for it. But changing gears and becoming a consultant isn’t so clear-cut. Erik Deckers, author of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself, shows you how to use a blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn to start a consulting career, including finding a niche, finding connections on LinkedIn and Twitter, and writing blog posts.

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If you spend enough time in a particular career, you know enough to share knowledge with companies and get paid for it. You know how to build a profitable strategic plan, how to execute it, and how to insure your clients will see long-term growth from it. In short, you could be a consultant. If only you knew how to start your next career as a consultant. Here are five steps every new consultant should use to jumpstart their consulting career with social media.

#1: Start with a Blog

The best way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise about a particular topic is to write about it as frequently as possible. The best way to do it is with a blog. There are plenty of free blog platforms available, like WordPress.com, Blogger.com, and Posterous.com.

Pick your consultancy niche, and focus almost exclusively on that. A single post should be roughly 350450 words, but shorter is acceptable. Write about all the news, thoughts, and developments within the niche, and then promote it to your social network including LinkedIn and Twitter.